I’ve mentioned my second cousin in a couple of other threads.
She believes that all dogs are male and all cats are female. After they mate, the cat gives birth to a litter of puppies and kittens. She also believes that Alaska and Hawaii are right off the coast of California. Why? Because that’s the way it was on the big wall map in school.
This is not a stupid kid, she’s a woman in her 50s. There aren’t enough :rolleyes:s for her.
I always feel the need to tell people that there’s no point in leaving their fans running all day long while they aren’t home. I’m talking about just regular room or ceiling fans that just circulate the air. The feel nice when they blow on you, the help stir the cooler air up off the ground, but leaving them running for 8 or 10 hours while you’re at work isn’t going to do any good and will actually heat the house/apartment a bit since the air friction and motor generate heat.
That must really ruin their vacation. “We’re where?? Can we drive there from here?”
Do they ever direct them to this building?
I know a woman, about the same age, who believes that race is solely passed on from the mother and the father’s race doesn’t matter one iota. I’m sure I mentioned her around here before.
What, like Judaism or hemophilia or something?
Last winter I mentioned in passing to a 60+ year old cow-orker how nice it was that the days were getting longer and we had more light for the drive home. “Yes,” she replied. “It must be that global warming.”
At an earlier job I mentioned an upcoming lunar eclipse. One secretary insisted it would be dangerous to look directly at it. She was unclear on the cause of the moon being eclipsed. “Isn’t that when the sun gets between the moon and the earth and casts a shadow?” I swear that is *exactly *what she said.
I had an astronomy professor that told the story of someone getting a dual masters degree in geology and astronomy (and this wasn’t Springfield U either). They failed him on his final examination because he couldn’t explain an ecllipse (they made him take a few more courses so he lived). Now THAT guy shoulda known better.
No idea. Tried to get her to explain it once and got an exercise in circular reasoning.
That Africa is a country.
That America is a democracy.
That the reason white people are white is because they are part neanderthal.
I can’t confirm this but I’ve heard it’s a bad idea to wear any biker clothing that has the name of a place on it.
It might only have been your intent to say that you’re from California but what I heard is that wearing a place name on your “colors” means you’re claiming ownership of that territory in biker code - which will be viewed as a challenge to all other biker gangs from that area.
I would assume that’s only if it’s actual gang or MC type clothing. Even then I think it get’s into the specifics of the patch. Obviously there’s plenty of Harley Davidson Milwaukee/Sturgis/Miami etc clothing all over the place. People collect that like they (used to) collect Hard Rock t-shirts.
I’m talking about a box fan. I own 2. (Brand name Lasco. I just checked)
I still have no idea what you are trying to say.
I’m guessing these are meant to be examples of “things that are not true, but some people think they are”…but I’m not sure.
If that is correct, then what did you mean by the second statement? That the US is not a direct democracy, like 5th-C-BC Athens (not counting the slaves, or the women)?
Or that “America” does not mean the “USA” – and that, indeed, some countries in the Americas are more democratic than others? (As of about ten years ago, though, I’m pretty sure that most people would agree that all American countries have finally reached a level we can reasonably term a “democracy”…military dicatorships are pretty much over, Mexico is settling into life after one-party rule, and indigenous peoples are rarely disenfranchised per se, though often discriminated against)…I guess Cuba would be the least arguable exception, so that would make your statement true, IF that’s what you meant to say.
Any cooling due to this effect (even under the rather special conditions where it might occur) is going to be negligible compared to the heat produced by the fan motor, and the frictional heating produced by the motion of the fan blades through the air, and the motion of the air against the walls, etc.
You seem to be desperately rationalizing so as not to have to give up a long held belief, even though it is very clearly false.
That was an episode of Night Gallery.
In fact it does. In most of the English-speaking world, people understand the word “America” to mean “the country formally known as the United States of America.” That is how the term is used in England, in Australia, in South Africa.
“America” can also, though uncommonly, mean “the New World, comprised of North and South America and their outlying islands,” but **in English, words can mean more than one thing. ** And the truth is that this usage is far less common than the “United States” usage - indeed, I personally cannot recollect any English-speaking human being using "“America” in casual conversation to mean “the western hemisphere” or anything of the like.
Usually when referring to the continents of North and South America, one would say “the Americas,” as distinct from “America.”
What does she have to say about President Obama?
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…Or that “America” does not mean the “USA” --…
[/QUOTE]
My 3rd grade teacher would not stop telling us about how great it was that South Africa had just elected it’s first African-American president.:rolleyes: When I pointed out that Mandela was just African, not an American she told me “not to say such things”.
Back when Star-Trek: Voyager came out there were press articles descriving Tuvok as the first “African-American Vulcan”.
So, the hundreds of times you’ve seen it done, was in your own window?:dubious:
I know that’s not what you meant. But wouldn’t it be annoying if I had taken that one little thing, and told you that you were not making sense? And then answer one of your questions in a way that makes it obvious, that I understand the question. And once again, remind you that I don’t understand?
Is it so hard for you to believe, that you and I have seen different types of fan usage? Also, it’s probably been 10 years since I’ve been in a house with a box fan in the window.
I think it’s great that they can be used to blow in, and out! But the old ones should have been made to accommodate that.
I’m sorry if I have offended any bi-blowers with my comments.
I will try bi-blowing for myself one day.
Oh, I agree with you. I was just trying to figure out what the poster was trying to convey, and I posited this as one of the options.
It occurs to me that another possible meaning of “America is [not] a democracy” is some observation on the corrosive influence of money on elections, especially since the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court.
(Again, I’m not endorsing this idea myself, just trying to guess what the OP meant.)
What would an Australian Aboriginal who emigrates to England be called, when visiting America?
